A poisoned presidential candidate and reports of widespread election fraud in Ukraine led to a citizen revolution, which professors described on Monday night as a complex event that can serve as a tool for the spread of democracy in Europe.
Visiting law professors Andriy Andrusevych, Natalia Andrusevych, Zoryana Kozak and Svitlana Kravchenko, University political science professor Mikhail Myagkov and 1975 University graduate and Eugene attorney Michael Goldstein spoke to about 50 people in the Knight Law Center explaining the situation surrounding the revolution and describing its impact on Europe and North America.
“Our people were tired of corruptive
government,” Kravchenko said.
The revolution — hailed as the Orange Revolution in reference to current President Viktor Yushchenko’s use of the color in his campaign — happened during the weeks following Ukraine’s November presidential election.
Yushchenko, who gained a reputation as the candidate in favor of western democracy, was declared the winner by the Ukraine Supreme Court after three rounds of voting and a bizarre poisoning that left his face deformed with pockmarks and cysts.
The then-serving Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych had originally been declared the winner by a razor-thin margin, only to have his victory overturned by the Supreme Court after hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians flooded the streets in protest.
“People organized this revolution all over,” Kozak said. “Everyone tried to do something, which helped to build and create our idea.”
The revolution was primarily started by university students who took to the streets in protest of the widespread fraud and corruption that characterized the election, Kozak said.
Andriy Andrusevych was at the protests in Kiev, Ukraine’s Independence Square, and said the tone was non-violent, characterized by a natural, happy confidence.
“You see smiling people and happy people and that’s exactly how it felt,” Andrusevych said, emphasizing there was no hint of animosity and no sign things could get out of hand.
“People were not even drinking beer,”
Andrusevych said with a laugh.
The protest in Independence Square lasted 17 days and served as a force of unity for the nearly one million people who came out for the protest, Andrusevych said. Restaurants in the area provided free food and shelter for the protesters, who Andrusevych said were in the square for more than 10 hours every day.
Music was also a uniting force for the
revolution, and live music was played at the protests to keep people moving and lively,
Andrusevych said.
The professors discussed the aftermath of the revolution and its effects on surrounding countries so far and what they may be in the future.
Kravchenko said the European Union’s and the United States’ role in the election outcome has been questioned, and some European government leaders are examining the revolution out of fear that it could happen in their own countries.
Also discussed was the revolution’s effects on European democracy and the
political atmosphere.
“This protest was important not only because of the solutions but because of the participation of European Union leaders in the process,” Natalia Andrusevych said.
Ukraine is located close to Russia and many countries in the European Union, which made the election outcome meaningful for virtually all countries because of European relations with the former Soviet Union.
“The European Union was always very interested in democratic
elections in Ukraine,” Natalia
Andrusevych said.
Goldstein, who lived in Kiev for more than two years, said the Orange Revolution’s meaning to the future of Europe and politics in general is uncertain, but he is positive its overall effect will be beneficial to the world as a whole.
“This is really assistance to everyone,” Goldstein said.
Myagkov, who said he has been studying election fraud for 15 years, said evidence of fraud by both Ukrainian candidates shows the complexity of the situation and the array of political motives at play in Europe.
“Clearly, there is much more to the story than good versus evil,” Myagkov said.

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